Blackstone poised to sell 1095 Sixth Avenue for $2B

Blackstone Group is gearing up to sell the Verizon building at 1095 Sixth Avenue, and the office tower may fetch one of the highest prices ever paid for a U.S. skyscraper.

Blackstone has tapped Eastdil Secured to market the 42-story, 1.2 million-square-foot property, sources familiar with the plans told Bloomberg News. The tower, they said, could fetch as much as $2.25 billion.

Blackstone picked up the tower in 2007 as part of its $39 billion acquisition of Sam Zell’s Equity Office Properties Trust, which up until that point was the largest office landlord in the U.S. The building, now known as 3 Bryant Park, counts MetLife among its tenants. Verizon Communications, which once occupied all 41 stories of the property, is returning to the building in September.

A spokesperson for Blackstone declined to comment on plans to Bloomberg, and a spokesperson for Eastdil did not immediately return calls.